The invention relates to a support assembly for supporting a bicycle front derailleur.
Bicycle front derailleurs are in most cases mounted to a section of a bicycle frame, for example to a section of a seat tube. At the location intended for mounting a front derailleur, a mounting fixture for the derailleur is usually provided. Such a mounting fixture may be integrally formed with the bicycle frame. Alternatively, mounting fixtures may be either glued, brazed, welded, screwed or clamped to the frame, for example to a section of the seat tube. The mounting fixtures are arranged or formed at the bicycle frame before mounting the derailleur to the bicycle frame. Due to this pre-attachment of the mounting fixture to the frame, the angular position of the derailleur must be adjustable to allow a proper alignment and functioning of the derailleur. Therefore the orientation and position of the derailleur is adjusted in order to set the correct orientation and position of the chain guide relative to the sprockets. Thereafter, the adjusted position is fixed by a derailleur mounting member such as a screw or a bolt.
When shifting between different sprockets with the derailleur, it is possible that the orientation and position of the derailleur or the chain guide with respect to the sprocket changes. This can be due to the fact that the mounting fixture attached to the bicycle frame may flex under the influence of chain loading forces. This may influence the shifting performance of the derailleur.
Therefore, there is a need to provide a front derailleur for a bicycle with additional lateral support for securely maintaining the position and orientation of the derailleur. Moreover, the additional lateral support should be easy to set while avoiding damage to the bicycle frame.